CHRISTIAN TODAY:
Article Published by I’m So Blessed Daily
What You Didn’t Know About Malachi 3:10
CT:
The tithe has long been a challenge
for Christians to completely understand and practice freely. Some
Christians may overdo it while others under-practice the grace of generosity.
But some of these challenges are based on things that we fail to understand
about the tithe and God’s message to us in giving this law.
The
tithe was a command given by God to the people of Israel that would serve two
general purposes: to fund the “storehouse”—or the office of priests and
Levites—and to test the hearts of the people. More than just the action, God
wanted to use the tithe to challenge the hearts of the Israelites to see where
their hearts are at.
RUSSELL
KELLY: The un-named author of the article begins with the error that the tithe
was for “Christians” and is associated with the “grace of generosity.” No
validating texts are supplied.
First,
the HOLY tithe (as the term is used by Moses, Nehemiah, Malachi and Jesus) was
always only food from inside God’s HOLY land which He alone had miraculously
increased. God supplies that which He requests. “Second, the tithe was never a
“principle” for everybody; it only applied to Hebrew food-producers living
inside HOLY Israel. Non-food producers such as carpenters, tentmakers,
tradesmen and craftsmen were exempt. Third, the first whole Levitical O.T. went
to the servants of the priests and not to the ministering priests (Num
18:20-28; Lev 27:30-34)
CT:
While we are not under the same set of laws given to the Israelites, many of
the timeless principles that ruled them during that time still rule us today.
One of those principles is generosity—the true litmus paper to the heart.
KELLY:
First, “we” the Church are not included; there is not a single post-Calvary New
Covenant text which commands the church to tithe to gospel workers. Second, in
order to be an eternal moral “timeless principle,” it must be written in the
heart of every person (John 1:9; Rom 1:18-20; 2:14-16). While 9 of the Ten
Commandments are eternal moral principles, the 7th day Sabbath (and
10% tithing) is not. Resting and sacrificial giving are eternal moral
principles.
CT:
Here are a few things we must understand about the tithe and about Malachi 3:10
that will help us understand giving more.
KELLY:
The most important thing to understand about Malachi 3:10 is that it must be
understood in its historical context beginning in chapter 1. It is addressed
only to Old Covenant Israel in 1:1. Beginning in 1:6 and continuing in 2:1 to
the end, “you” refers to every priest in the nation who had stolen from God
(1:6-14). The possible context of Nehemiah 13:1-10 makes sense.
CT:
People Were Looking for Loopholes, Too, at That Time. The entire book of Malachi is actually an
exchange that happens between God and the people of Israel where God points out
their flaws and man was trying to defend himself.
KELLY:
No, the whole people of Israel are only seen in 1:1 to 1:6 and 2:11-12. In every
other text “you” refers to priests beginning in 1:6.
CT:
Malachi 3:8 says, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How
have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.” Here the people were
trying to defend themselves and looking for loopholes in what God was doing to
credit their non-compliance to giving laws.
KELLY:
If Nehemiah 13:1-10 is the correct context for Malachi, the priests (not the
people) are guilty as in Malachi 1:6-14 and 2:1-10, 13-17; 3 to end. The
priests had removed the tithes and caused the Levites to return home for food.
And God is telling the priests to return the tithe.
CT:
Today, we see people doing the same thing, not because they want to know what’s
right but because sometimes they really just want to hold on to their money.
KELLY:
Money was extremely common and mentioned 44 times before HOLY tithing was
mentioned in Leviticus 27:30-34. Yet money was never a tithed commodity.
CT:
God Wasn’t Mad Because He Wasn’t Getting the Money. What displeased God
most was not the fact that people weren’t giving money, but that they weren’t
giving God their hearts.
KELLY:
Opinion, not context. See Malachi 1:6-14; 2:1-10, 13-17; 3 to end and Nehemiah
13:1-10.
CT:
Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
God is not all that interested in our money, but desires first and foremost to
have a relationship with us with a trust that goes beyond measure.
KELLY:
True, but out of context.
CT:
God trusts us fully with the 100 percent and asks us only to trust Him with the
10 percent.
KELLY:
This has not been proven from contextual Scripture. Why should gospel workers receive
the tithe while O. T. tithe recipients were not allowed to own or inherit property
inside Israel or amass fortunes? (Num 18:20-29).
CT:
It Wasn’t the First and Last Time Generosity Was Commanded. The first
time the tithe was actually commanded was back when God gave the people of
Israel commandments through Moses.
KELLY:
True because the pre-law pagan-source tithes of Abram and Jacob were not
commanded.
CT:
Leviticus 27:30 says, “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land
or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.”
KELLY:
Notice the true description of the HOLY tithe. It was always only FOOD from
inside HOLY Israel which HOLY God had miraculously increased. It never came
from what man increased. Fifteen hundred years later in Malachi 3:10 it was
still only food and 400 years after that it was still only food in Mathew
23:23. This never changed!
CT:
It wasn’t also the last time generosity was mentioned. Paul also spoke about
generosity, and while he did not necessarily mention the tenth, he did commend
and encourage sacrificial giving. In 2 Corinthians 8:3, he says, “For I testify
that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their
own accord.”
KELLY:
Yes, generous freewill sacrificial giving.
Russell
Earl Kelly, PHD
russkellyphd@yahoo.com
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